The celestial bodies are aligning perfectly for the Western Carolina University community to experience a memorable start to the 2017 fall semester, with the first day of classes coinciding with a once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse and anticipation rising for all-time records to be set in total enrollment and freshman enrollment.

With a total solar eclipse occurring on the first day of the fall semester classes, Western Carolina University’s faculty and staff are taking steps to help ensure that everyone has the opportunity to safely view the rare celestial phenomenon.

Enrique Gomez, associate professor of physics and astronomy at Western Carolina University, is reminding members of the public who plan to view the solar eclipse on Monday, Aug. 21, to use only certified eclipse glasses in order to prevent serious eye damage.

When Glenda Hensley, director of Western Carolina University’s First Year Experience, first announced that “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” was chosen for this year’s One Book Program, the reaction she received was memorable.

The Connect NC bond-financed replacement for Western Carolina University’s antiquated Natural Sciences Building is still on the drawing boards, but the first early signs of the project already are apparent in the form of a closed section of Memorial Drive.

A visitor taking a tour of Western Carolina University’s steam plant gets the sensation of moving through a dusty old warehouse full of pipes – not necessarily a surprise because the structure that houses WCU’s steam-producing operation was built in the late 1920s.

A new 600-bed residence hall planned for the upper section of the Western Carolina University campus took one step closer to becoming a reality as the WCU Board of Trustees unanimously endorsed a design concept for the building.